• A groin injury prevented Sven Baertschi from playing on the silver medal-winning Swiss side at the World Championships. While his first order of business is making the Calgary Flames this fall, he has one eye on a role with his country's Olympic team.

• Despite the new faces on the back end, Edmonton's defense still lacks top-end presence. As long as players are put into roles that demand more than their skill level can handle, the blue line will be a problem for the Oilers.

• The Western Michigan Broncos are the big losers after Montreal signed top pick Michael McCarron and assigned him to the OHL's London Knights. Glad to see a high-end youngster in the O ... but do these guys always have to end up with London?